New government tool lets people check what the gender pay gap is like in their industry

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Justine Greening said the tool "will empower both men and women" (Source: Getty)

Rebecca Smith

This could spark some interesting chats at the water cooler...

The government has created a tool for the public to check out what the gender pay gap - the average earnings between men and women - is in their own profession.

Justine Greening, minister for women and equalities, unveiled the online tool created by the government and the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which shows those in the construction and building trades, and financial managers and directors as having the biggest gender pay gaps.

"This tool will empower both men and women to challenge this issue in their profession and help people to make more informed decisions about their career," Greening said.

The government has released details on how large employers will have to report gender pay and bonus pay gaps from next April. Parliament will now debate the regulations as they have been publicly consulted on.

It'll affect around 8,000 employers with about 11m employees.

Greening said:

Employers must play their part in this too and take action to tackle the gender pay gap in their organisation. That’s why we are requiring large employers to publish their gender pay and gender bonus pay gaps for the first time ever and our regulations mean they can start getting ready to report from April next year.

There are various reasons for the gender pay gap; the government's own research found a higher proportion of women chose occupations offering less financial reward like administration, while many high paying sectors are disproportionately made up of male workers.

&lt;p&gt;The gender pay gap is at a low of 18.1 per cent, and the tool will let the public see how their job stacks up to the national average.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Read more&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a data-cke-saved-href=&quot;http://www.cityam.com/251234/gender-pay-gap-reporting-catalyst-better-informed-debate&amp;quot; href=&quot;http://www.cityam.com/251234/gender-pay-gap-reporting-catalyst-better-informed-debate&amp;quot;&gt;Gender pay gap reporting will be the catalyst for real change in workplaces&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;It comes as the government unveils details of how large employers will have to report their gender pay and gender bonus pay gaps from next April.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The regulations will affect almost 8,000 employers with around 11m employees.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Greening said:&lt;/p&gt; &lt;blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;Employers must play their part in this too and take action to tackle the gender pay gap in their organisation. That&amp;rsquo;s why we are requiring large employers to publish their gender pay and gender bonus pay gaps for the first time ever and our regulations mean they can start getting ready to report from April next year.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/blockquote&gt; &lt;p&gt;She said the online tool will &amp;quot;empower both men and women to challenge this issue in their profession and help people to make more informed decisions about their career&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Causes of the gender pay gap are varied. The government&amp;#39;s research into the topic found &amp;nbsp;women still tend to work in lower paid sectors and are less likely to progress to senior positions.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Read more&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;a data-cke-saved-href=&quot;http://www.cityam.com/248107/forget-discrimination-gender-pay-gap-driven-our-free&amp;quot; href=&quot;http://www.cityam.com/248107/forget-discrimination-gender-pay-gap-driven-our-free&amp;quot;&gt;Forget discrimination: The gender pay gap is driven by our (free) choices&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Reasons for this can include women with childcare responsibilities taking career breaks and choosing to work part-time, with more readily part-time opportunities available for lower paid roles.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;table class=&quot;cam-tab&quot;&gt; &lt;tbody&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Occupations with the largest GPG in favour of men&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Occupations where average pay is most similar for men and women (i.e. GPG is closest to 0 per cent)&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Occupations with the largest GPG in favour of women&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;Construction &amp;amp; building trades supervisors, 45.4&amp;nbsp;per cent &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;Bar staff, 0.0 per cent &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;Probation officers, -25.3&amp;nbsp;per cent &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;Financial managers &amp;amp; directors, 36.5&amp;nbsp;per cent &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;Fishmongers &amp;amp; poultry dressers, -0.0&amp;nbsp;per cent &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;Fitness instructors, -22.9&amp;nbsp;per cent &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;Financial institution managers &amp;amp; directors, 34.1&amp;nbsp;per cent &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;Nurses, 0.0&amp;nbsp;per cent &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;Childminders &amp;amp; related occupations, -20.5 per cent &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;Assemblers (vehicles &amp;amp; metal goods), 33.5 per cent &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;Podiatrists, -0.1 per cent &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;td&gt;Parking &amp;amp; civil enforcement occupations, -18.7 per cent &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/tbody&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;